HTC BlackBerry 10 smartphone? Never say never, says director

It is common knowledge that RIM is considering licensing out its forthcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system to other manufacturers, taking on Android and Windows Phone in the process. Company CEO Thorsten Heins has alluded to the possibility on more than one occassion.

However, rival manufacturers are yet to publicly show any interest, with almost all of them being content to showcase current devices running other software. Until now, that is.

HTC has admitted that it will be looking into the possibility of building a BlackBerry 10 device. Graham Wheeler, HTC's director of product management for EMEA, is reported by Mobile Magazine to have said that the company is open to new operating systems and that it would look at each case individually.

"I don’t have any knowledge, but that is not to say we are not looking at it," Wheeler said. "From my point of view we are not saying we are closed to a new operating system. We will review each one to make sure it’s the best for our customers."

If it does decide to join RIM's revival and manufacture a BlackBerry 10 handset, HTC could steal a march over some of its biggest competitors. Samsung has already denied looking into BB10 as a viable option, while LG has recently said it will concentrate on Android.